


the luvuat berry juice

by lauraxtennant



Series: Nine/Rose Collection [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-02
Updated: 2015-11-02
Packaged: 2018-04-29 14:12:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5130578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lauraxtennant/pseuds/lauraxtennant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose takes care of the Doctor when he drinks something he shouldn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the luvuat berry juice

**Author's Note:**

> Based on an anon prompt on tumblr: 'can I get a fic where Nine is drugged on an adventure and Rose has to take care of him?' Thanks, anon! :)

Rose tucked her phone between her ear and shoulder, bent her legs, and used all her strength in an attempt to lift the drowsy Time Lord at her feet.

“It’s no good, Jack,” she gasped, panting. “It’ll take me forever to drag him back to the TARDIS.”

“Sorry, Rose,” Jack replied on the other end of the phone, “I’d love to help, but I’m in a - what was that quaint little phrase you used the other day? ‘A spot of bother!’ That’s right.”

She sighed and leant against the gold leaf wall of the palace dining room. “You’re too busy wining and dining the prince and princess, is that it?”

“Let’s just say we all had a…misunderstanding.”

“So you’re in prison?”

“Huh. Good guess!”

“So not only have I got a practically unconscious alien to look after, but I’ve gotta save your arse, too?”

“No, no, you just stay there and look after the Doctor. You can both come pick me up in the morning, when his…ailment has worn off.”

Rose rubbed at her forehead in concern. “You sure?”

“Yep!”

“And you really think he’ll be all right by morning?”

“From what you’ve described, sounds like he drank some Luvuat berry juice and it’s made him go loopy. He’s a Time Lord, though, Rose - could be that he’ll metabolise it and sort himself out in no time at all. Best get him back to your room in case he says anything daft to Her Majesty, though. Don’t need all of us spending a night in here.”

“Okay.”

“Anyway, better wind this up. Don’t think they’re impressed that I demanded my right to a phone call in the first place.”

Rose bit her lip and nudged the Doctor’s shoulder with her knee. Her eyebrows lifted when he curled his arm around her leg in response, resting his cheek against her thigh. “Right. S’pose I should sort this one out then.”

“Good luck!”

“Ta, you too!” She pocketed her phone and crouched down to the Doctor’s eye level. “Okay, you. Work with me, yeah?” She draped his arm around her shoulders and stood, dragging him up with her, her arm around his waist. “We’re gonna head back to the room they said we could stay in, okay? Think you can walk that far?”

“‘M fine,” the Doctor grumbled, shaking his head and blinking, as though he could tell he needed to shake himself out of his confusion.

“No, you’re really not, but that’s okay, ‘cos you’ve got me,” she said, grinning at the dazed expression he wore on his face. “Need you to put one foot in front of the other, though.”

She watched as his eyes fluttered closed and he leant heavily against her, and nudged him with her hip. “Oi, sleepyhead. You’ll find your feet at the bottom of your legs. Move ‘em.”

His eyes opened at that and he shot her a lazy smile as he obediently started to shuffle along. “Ha. You said that to me before.”

“Did I?” she replied absently, struggling to open the door to the corridor. Everyone else who had been invited to the feast had vacated the dining room for the ballroom. She didn’t fancy calling any of that lot for help, anyway; she wasn’t as sure as Jack that the Doctor’s consumption of that berry juice was entirely accidental. Surely he’d have known not to drink it, if it could affect him like this? What if someone had deliberately tried to incapacitate him?

“You were nicer about it, then,” he mused.

“What’s that?”

“We danced. That was a fantastic day. Remember? Everybody lived, and we danced,” he continued, unperturbed by her lack of interest in his conversation. She wished he’d do a bit less talking and a bit more moving. Which was the first time she’d ever wished such a thing, where he was concerned, because she loved it when he opened up to her. Mind you, she couldn’t say that she hadn’t wished he’d make a different sort of move, lately.

“No dancing tonight,” Rose said. “Right, up the stairs we go - careful!” He’d nearly slumped against a pointy bit on the bottom of the banister. “Can’t deal with any head injuries on top of this! Or any injuries at all, ta.”

He moved his hand from dangling over her shoulder into her hair, stroking lightly as he grinned. “You’d look after me, though, eh?” He ducked his head, looking coy for the first time since she’d known him. “Even if I cause you a bit of trouble?”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Course I would, plonker.”

“Thought so,” he said cheerfully, and he remained quiet as she guided him the rest of the way up the staircase, Rose’s puffs of breath the only sound masking the grand ticking clock in the hallway.

“Do you know what a Luvuat berry is, Doctor?” she asked when they got to the landing, deciding she preferred him chattering in her ear after all.

“Yep. Delicacy on this planet. Poisonous for me, though. Don’t let me eat any.”

She paused, squeezing his waist in alarm. “You already did! Well, drank. That’s why you’re not feeling well, right? But Jack didn’t say poisonous - he didn’t say it was _dangerous_ \- are you - what’s gonna happen?”

“Oops. Nah, I’ll be all right,” he said vaguely. “Better rest up and let my body do the work. I’ll be right as rain, just you wait.”

“Sure?”

“Yeah.”

“What else should I do, though?” Rose asked, glancing around them before locating the room they had been allocated.

“Nothing. Just get me into bed, Rose Tyler.”

She arched an eyebrow at him as she pushed him through the doorway and he chuckled.

“Why’d you drink it, anyway, if you knew it was bad for you?”

He sniffed, then shrugged, then not so nonchalantly stumbled away from her, towards the bed, without answering her question.

“Doctor?” she pressed.

“Didn’t realise,” he muttered, picking up a pillow and inspecting it like it held the secrets of the universe. “Was distracted.” He threw the pillow aside and flopped down on the mattress face-first. “Mm, comfy.”

She couldn’t help but smile. “You sound drunk. Or, well, you look high.” He started humming a Celine Dion song, then rolled onto his back, eyes wide, and began counting the tassels on the canopy of the four-poster bed instead. She shook her head, revising her observation. “Both. Let’s go with both those things.”

He lifted his head to look at her. “Come here a sec.”

Rose settled beside him on the bed, sitting up with her legs crossed. After she replaced the pillow he’d cast away for him, making his head and neck comfier, she watched as he took her hand in both of his, holding it over his chest. A moment or two later, he started stroking some sort of pattern over her palm.

“You’re gonna be so embarrassed about this tomorrow,” she murmured, poking his ribs lightly with her free hand.

He gasped and giggled, and Rose stared at him in surprise.

“Tickles,” he said happily, and she withdrew her hands from him. His brow furrowed suddenly. “Why?”

“Why does it tickle? I dunno.”

“No, Rose,” he said sagely. “Why would I be embarrassed?”

“Because you’re not exactly acting like yourself.”

He sat up, meeting her gaze properly, steadily. “So?”

“Well, you’re being all sweet and it’s - you’re sort of - vulnerable? Right now. With only me to look after you.”

The Doctor shrugged. “I trust you.”

“I know, but - ”

“No one in the universe I trust more than you.” Her breath caught and she watched him swallow hard before he hurried to add, “Besides, you’ve not half done some silly things in front of me yourself, Rose Tyler.”

She laughed. “Yeah, s’pose I have.”

“You make me silly,” he said next.

“Hmm?”

“Always want you laughing, me.”

Rose started fiddling with the sleeve of his jacket, watching her fingers rather than his face. “You’re good at it,” she admitted. “Making me laugh. Cheering me up.”

He made a pleased noise. “Could say the exact same thing about you.”

She felt her cheeks heating up and continued to avoid his gaze. “I…I hope this is okay for me to say…”

“You can say anything to me,” he said softly.

Her eyes met his. “Travelling with you, it’s - ” Rose smiled widely, unable to stop herself as she spoke. “It’s - it’s the best. I want to do it forever.” She laughed, then, hoping she didn’t sound too clingy and wishing she’d not come across so desperate about it.

“Rose.” He took her hand again and pressed it against first the right, then the left side of his chest. His hearts were thumping wildly, and it gave her a strange thrill in her stomach to realise it, to realise he wanted her to feel it, to know. “You shouldn’t say things like that.”

She flinched. “Sorry. You just - you said I could say anything - ”

“No, I just mean…” He sighed, and pulled her down into a hug. “It gives an old man too much hope,” he whispered.

“I don’t understand,” she murmured back. “You - ”

He pressed a soft kiss to her temple. “You won’t stay forever, Rose. You just won’t.”

Rose bristled at that and drew back. “Well, I think you’re wrong, and you’re stuck with me, so you’ll just have to get used to it.”

He stared at her for a few seconds in silence. Then, his lips twitched. “Oh, I hope so.”

Glad to have that settled, Rose sighed in relief. “Right then. Hadn’t you better get some sleep?”

The Doctor looked a little disappointed, but nodded.

“And there’s really nothing I can do to help you right now?”

“Nope. Just sit here and keep me company,” he said, as he took off his jacket. “Got a bit of headache, though, so you can close that door to block out that racket if you like.”

At his words, Rose realised she’d left their bedroom door open and got up to close it, and the noise of the party which had just started up downstairs was tempered a bit. When she turned around to face the bed again, he was out of his jumper and unbuttoning his jeans. Rose squeaked, and averted her eyes.

“Do you really need to - to get, you know.” She gulped. “Undressed?”

He paused. “Not if it makes you feel uncomfortable.”

She hesitated. “No, I guess - I mean -” She laughed, feeling silly. “It’s okay. I’ll just close my eyes ‘til you get under the covers, yeah?”

“I’ll leave my underpants on,” he conceded, as though that had been up for debate.

She snorted. “Ta.”

Rose kept her own clothes decidedly on, both because she would feel vulnerable without them and because it was quite chilly in the bedroom. She took off her trainers and snuggled under the covers with the Doctor, but tried not to get too close, unsure of the boundaries between them these days.

“Rose,” he murmured, once she’d turned off the lights with his sonic, the way he’d shown her one evening in the TARDIS library when both of them felt too lazy to get up and dim them manually.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for looking after me.”

“I haven’t really done much,” Rose said, shrugging into the darkness.

“Oh, I dunno…”

“Are you really gonna be all right tomorrow? I’m not gonna wake up and find you unconscious, or - or worse?” 

“I’ll be fine.”

She rolled onto her side. “And you’ll wake me up if you need me?”

“Course.”

“Okay. Night then, Doctor.”

She felt for his chest in the dark, meaning to give him a friendly pat; she’d forgotten, briefly, that he’d taken his jumper off. His hand was on hers again, like earlier, before she could move it from his bare skin or apologise. Almost immediately, he started snoring, just softly - not enough that it would keep her awake. She found it kind of endearing, actually - for now, at least. 

But whilst it warmed her heart that he was holding her hand so sweetly, keeping her palm pressed against him, the way in which the tips of her fingers were brushing his nipple unnerved her, a sensation which _would_ keep her awake. So she carefully slid her hand free and rolled onto her other side, facing away from him, and tried to settle her pulse rate enough to fall asleep.

::

In the night, his arm curved around her from behind in a loose hug, and though Rose was, ordinarily, a deep sleeper, she jerked awake at the touch.

“Are you all right?” she whispered to him.

“Mmm,” he murmured, scooting nearer to her body and inhaling close to her neck. “Very. Like this development, me.”

“Development?”

“You in my bed.”

She brushed it off with a breezy laugh. “This isn’t your bed, Doctor.”

“A technicality.”

“You remember where we are, then?”

“Nope.” He sounded a bit more awake, now. “Not at home?”

“No, not at home.”

She felt his nose wrinkle as he nuzzled her hair. “Jackie’s?”

“Not at Mum’s, either.”

His thighs pressed against the backs of hers, his legs mimicking the position of where hers were bent at the knee. “Did we get a hotel room?”

“Oh my god,” Rose said, and she couldn’t help but giggle. “Why would you say that?”

“Dunno. Thought about it, once.”

“What?” Her mouth dropped open. She should probably tell him to be quiet in case he regretted saying all this when he’d recovered, but no words other than ‘what’ would come out of her mouth in that moment.

“Jack’s always around. On the TARDIS.”

She bit her lip, grinning. “Worried he’ll want to join in?”

“Mmm.” He sighed, and his breath tickled her skin. “Can’t have that.”

“No,” Rose said, trying to sound serious. “We can’t have that.”

“Am I dreaming?” he wondered.

“No, but you are a bit drugged up,” she replied. “You’d best stop revealing all your secrets.”

“Not a secret,” he retorted. “Everyone knows.”

Her throat tightened. “Knows what?”

“How I feel about you.”

“Doctor…”

“Shh, it’s okay,” he murmured, dropping a kiss to her shoulder before pulling his arm away from her and retreating to lie on his back. “I know it’s not the right time.”

Rose let out a shaky breath. “If you…if you want to talk about it later, when you’re all better.” She swallowed hard. “Then, um. That’d be fine by me.” Understatement of the century, Rose thought. She’d been dying for him to say such a wonderful thing to her for weeks. Desperate, really, to know how he felt, to know if it came close to how she felt about him.

He made a small noise in his throat, and the only way Rose could think to describe it was that he sounded chuffed.

“Yeah?” she prompted.

“I’m glad,” he said simply, and then he went quiet, and after a few seconds Rose rolled over to him again and found he’d fallen back asleep.

Rose sat up in the dark and pressed a hand to her chest, feeling like her heart was about to jump out of her ribs. Jack was never gonna believe this.

::

“Doctor, wakey-wakey,” Rose sang in his ear hours later, when she’d already been up, breakfasted, and said goodbye to their hosts on behalf of herself and the Doctor. And he was still asleep.

“Mmpf,” he muttered into the pillow, and his hand darted out across the bed, ostensibly in search of her. She wasn’t on the bed, however, but crouched next to it.

“Come on, we’ve got to go collect Jack.” She paused. “From prison,” she added, in case that would stir some sort of concern in him and make him more alert. It didn’t.

“Come back to bed,” he said instead, his eyes still closed.

“Oh god, are you still being affected by that juice?” she asked, rubbing his back worriedly. “Doctor?”

“Hmm?” His eyes fluttered open and he regarded her thoughtfully. “What’s going on?” He sat up with a start and looked under the bedcovers. “Why am I in my pants?”

She smiled in relief and sat on the edge of the bed. “Don’t you remember?”

Eyes wide, he shook his head. “No. Did…did something happen?”

“Yeah, you could say that,” she snorted.

His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Did we…”

Rose’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh! Oh, no, not _that_ sort of something.” She put her hand to her lips and muffled a laugh. Once she’d composed herself, she continued, “Um. You had a reaction to some Luvuat berry juice and started getting all silly and a bit clingy, but you’re fine now. Right?”

His brow furrowed. “Yeah, seem so.” He rubbed at his head. “Wait, it’s - bits are coming back to me.” His eyes widened again. “Oh, no.”

Rose’s reassuring smile faltered. “What is it?”

A flush crept up his face and he avoided her gaze, shifting uncomfortably. “I said some stuff, didn’t I?”

“Oh. Um, you did, yeah.” She was a little disappointed; he’d insisted that he wouldn’t regret or be ashamed of the way he’d been, the night before. She should have known, though.

“I’d better get dressed,” he said, when she didn’t say anything else.

“Yes! Right, yeah. You do that, I’ll just -” She gestured at the door behind her, and started to walk towards it. Then she turned around, and, just as he’d flung back the duvet and was sitting there in his tight little boxer briefs, which she absolutely did not notice, she said, “Don’t feel bad, Doctor. I get it, you were out of it. No need for things to be weird between us. Promise.” She flashed him what she hoped looked like a genuine smile, then left the room.

In the corridor, she leant against the wall and squeezed her eyes shut, telling herself everything would be just fine, things wouldn’t be awkward, and they would go back to being how they’d always been with one another soon enough. And she ignored the butterflies in her stomach and the slightly sinking feeling they and those thoughts brought with them.

A few minutes later, the Doctor joined her, and before she had a chance to start down the stairs, he stood beside her, against the wall, and grabbed her hand.

“Doctor?”

He stared straight ahead, and cleared his throat. “I’m still glad,” he said softly.

“Glad?”

“That you’re…” He stopped, then started again, “I’m still glad about the way you reacted. To what I said.”

“Ohh,” she breathed out roughly. “Are you sure?”

The Doctor chuckled and looked at her. “Yeah.”

She stared at him for a few moments, a slow smile edging the corners of her mouth up. “Um, we should go. I’ve already said our goodbyes; mentioned you weren’t feeling well and we had to leave.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

“We have to go save Jack, he’s got in a bit of trouble.”

He rolled his eyes. “No change there.”

“After that, I mean, when…when we’re back at the TARDIS,” she said nervously, eyes darting across his face to search his expression. “Maybe we could, I dunno, explore the…the idea of, um.”

The Doctor raised his free hand to her cheek, cupping it gently and stroking his thumb against her skin. “I’d like that.”

“Good,” she said, with a laugh and a breath of relief.

With a silly grin, he leant down and gave her the briefest peck on the lips, then made for the stairs, pulling her along behind him by their joined hands.

“That’s it?” Rose demanded, before pressing her lips together to savour the moment his were against hers.

“Didn’t you say Jack was in trouble?” the Doctor asked, with an infuriatingly smug smirk on his face.

“Yeah, but I mean, he survived all night without us.” She tilted her head to the side. “Hopefully, anyway. Think he can wait another minute or two.”

“Rose Tyler. We’ve found a limit to your compassion at last. Your poor friend, locked in prison all night, and all you wanna do is stop for a snog.” He shook his head. “Humans.”

“Oi,” she said, whacking him lightly on the arm as he quickened his pace. “And do you mind slowing down a bit? I’m knackered.”

“Should’ve had a lie-in like me, then,” he said, then muttered under his breath, “Usually it’s like trying to wake the dead with you in the mornings.”

“Well maybe I was a bit too worried to sleep in this morning!” Rose retorted, hearing every word.

He stopped suddenly and she walked into him. Letting go of her hand and wrapping his arm around her waist instead, the Doctor leant in and gave her a slightly longer kiss this time. Then, nose still touching hers but lips a breath away, he whispered, “Sooner we get the ‘Captain’ out, sooner we get home.”

She loosened her grip on his jacket, which she’d instinctively sought out with her fingers when he’d kissed her. “Sounds good to me. But you’d better hope he doesn’t ask me to tell all about the state you were in last night.”

The Doctor gave a casual shrug and let go of her. “Tell him if you want. No skin off my nose.” He grinned. “Still getting the girl, aren’t I?”

“Cheeky git,” Rose laughed, and then she looped her arm through his and they took off to rescue their friend.


End file.
